Mattress



March 9 1926.

Filed May l5 193g Patented Mar. 9, 1926.

WALTER ox ozxzrnngor DURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE,

MATTRESS.

Application filed. May 15, 1925. Seria1 1 To." 3Q,5 66.

To all whom it may concern:

Be known that I, WALTER C. OKANE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Durham, in the county of Stralford and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mattresses; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present inventionxrelates to an improvement in air mattresses. Various constructions of air mattresses have been proposed and some have gone into use. They have been made consisting of single compartments provided with stays to hold the opposite sides from separation beyond the length of the stays. In so far as I am aware, either the entire mattress was inflated to uniform pressure, or the pressure was greater in the center of the mattress than at the edges. When amattress consists of a single compartment if the sleeper moves to one edge of the mattress the air flows away from him and rolls him on". In the case of compartment mattressesv in which the pressure is greater in the center than at the edge this objection is also present.

The object of the present invention is to produce an air mattress of such construc-v tion ,that the user will find himself supported at theedges and prevented from rolling off. The invention consists in the air mattress hereinafter described and particularly defined in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the preferred form of the invention, the mattress is shown in perspective in Fig. 1 and in end view in Fig. 2.

This mattress is composed of three por tions, the center portion 1, and two edge por tions 2 and 3. Each portion is provided with its ownv inflation stem, or valve. Thus the center portion has the stem or valve 4, and the edge portions thestems or valves 5 and 6. The center portion 1 will be a rectangular type compartment made of leather, or rubberized fabric or the like and provided, if desired, with the usual stays to hold the mattress to a substantially uniform thickness throughout. It is inflated by the stem or nozzle 4 to a certain pressure. The edge compartments 2 and 3 will be attached to the edges of the center compartment 1 and inflated by separate nozQ zles 5 and 6 to a pressure somewhat higher than that of the center portion. These stems or nozzles may be of the usual form.

The pressure to which the center portion will be inflated will be suflicient to support the body of the particular'user without too much deflectionat the points where the great est weight is applied. Certainly it will be required to'be inflated to the point where it will keep the body of the user from caus ing the opposite sides of the compartment to come in contact with each other. This compartment, being thinner than the edge compartments, will form the main portion of the mattress, while the edge compartments, being somewhat thicker and preferably extending slightly above the level of the center portion and beinginflated to a degree of pressure in excess of that used in the center portion, willoperate to hold the body of the user from rolling off the mattress, and while it is preferred to have it .exceed' the height of the center portion, it

against his person and thereby retain the V warmth of the body from radiation. It will be observed that the integral central portion, which is inflated, as is usual in air mattresses to a pressure sufficient to sup-port the body and to permit a free distribution of air in that portion. is properly maintained at its edges by the relatively narrow and highly inflated edge portions. While there is thus assured such distribution of air in the central portion as is necessary for comfort. the edge portions prevent a complete eftlux of air from and consequent collapse of the sides of the central portion, ir respective of the position of the user.

If desired, the edge portions may be made detachable from the center portion, although the form illustrated in which they are united is considered to be preferable because it avoids the tedium of the attachment and detachment of the parts of the mattress. In the case of a narrow mattress the use of stays to hold the opposite faces of the center portion from separating beyond the limits edge portions will hold the center portion in shape for use Without stays.

5 is claimed 1s:

Having thus described the invention, What,

1. An air mattress comprising a unitary body supporting central portion adapted to be inflated to a pressure to permit free distribution of air therein, and separate rel- Y atively narrow edge portions adapted to be inflated to a higher pressure than the central portion to maintain the sides of the central portion against collapse.

2. An air mattress as defined in claim 1, having the edge portions of greater height 15 than the central portion. I i

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

WALTER o. OKANE. 

